When I started playing fantasy basketball in 1991 and didn’t know what I was doing, I bought Jeff Malone, thinking his scoring and shooting percentages would carry me to victory. Unfortunately I didn’t look at the rest of his stats. Malone may have averaged 20.2 ppg and shot 90% from the line and 51% from the field, but he did nothing else. Fortunately I played up those three categories and unloaded him for Larry Nance. Good times.
Still, I think of Jeff Malone every time I look at a Minnesota boxscore to see what Rashad McCants is up to. McCants isn’t even the shooter Malone was, which means his 14.4 ppg is about as empty as you can get. In 11 games, McCants' season highs are just six rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block. The only thing he adds to his game apart from the scoring is his 17 three pointers, but he only has two in his last six games, so that’s hardly money in the bank.
Needless to say, if you have McCants, you should be actively trying to trade him.
There aren’t many Jeff Malones any more. The closest we’d probably get today would be Wally Sczcerbiak, but he’s not even draftable anymore. There are still plenty of scorers who don’t do a whole lot else. You might even be surprised at some of the names on the list below.
At first I looked for players who averaged at least 10.0 ppg and fewer than 5.0 rpg and 5.0 apg. Admittedly 5.0 apg is too high of a threshold. I figured that out when Manu Ginobili made the initial list.
Lowering the threshold to 4.0 apg eliminated a few players, but it kept some real shockers, notably Ray Allen, Grant Hill, boxscore filler Gerald Wallace, and Kevin Durant. Considering Allen’s huge help in free throw percentage and three pointers and the fact that he was just under the threshold in both rebounds and assists, I'll give him a pass. Aside from steals, Wallace hasn’t been great in any category this year, but he helps enough in most that I’d rather hold onto him than deal him. However, if you can find someone in your league that thinks he’s a second-round talent, you might be able to get a real second-round talent back. The real shock on this list is Hill. A long time ago he was a threat to get a triple double every night. Now his only really good category is free shooting. Trade him while he’s still healthy.
I’ll give Durant the benefit of the doubt because he’s young and on an awful team, but so far his numbers do not look too good. He should improve as the season goes on, and if all goes well, he’ll cruise to the Rookie-of-the-Year award.
Other interesting names on the list, and all good candidates to trade as their scoring averages will inflate their value:
Take away Jason Terry’s three point shooting, and he may be the closest thing to this year’s Jeff Malone…Ronnie Brewer already has 42 steals and has outstanding percentages, but he can’t possibly keep up this pace…Leandro Barbosa gets you just three categories: scoring, three pointers, and steals, but he’s streaky (just 26 points, one steal, and two three pointers in his last three games). This is a not a consistent 20-point scorer…Monta Ellis may be on a hot streak, but for the season he’s done little but score. When the shots stop falling, you’ll wish you bailed on him after his back-to-back 31-point games…Ben Gordon. Like you didn’t already know that…Daniel Gibson, Peja Stojakovic, and Andrea Bargnani will get you three pointers, some scoring, and little else, but what is Cuttino Mobley’s excuse? Mobley averages 13.5 ppg and 3.4 apg and does nothing else, but that still makes him more valuable than Derek Fisher, who shouldn’t be owned in any but the deepest leagues.
The rest of the list: Matt Carroll, Ricky Davis, Francisco Garcia, Rudy Gay, Willie Green, Jarrett Jack, Linas Kleiza, Kyle Lowry, Rashad McCants, Juan Navarro, Anthony Parker, J.R. Smtih, Wally Sczcerbiak (of course), Antoine Walker, Damien Wilkins, Louis Williams, and Antoine Wright.
Posted by Kenn Ruby at 11/30/2007 9:49:00 PM
